Huntsville brings the fun back to 'sad' neighborhood playground off University Drive

Now we've got something that's really an asset for the whole community.

HUNTSVILLE, Alabama - Huntsville city government and school leaders have brought the happy back to what had been a sad-looking neighborhood playground northwest of downtown.

Mayor Tommy Battle and other local leaders gathered Thursday morning to christen the colorful, new Cavalry Hills playground on the Academy for Academics & Arts campus. It is also open to children from the surrounding Northwoods public housing development.

Huntsville City Schools and the city's Parks and Recreation Department split the $50,000 cost of the new swings, jungle gym, teeter-totter, park benches, sidewalks, security cameras and renovated basketball court.

Battle said the park was in "sad" shape before the makeover.

"The goals were hanging down where people had hung on them," he said. "There just was not much here. We started saying, 'How can we do something better?'"

Battle credited Yvonne Holley with getting the project in motion. While taking line dancing classes at the nearby Cavalry Hills Center, Holley was bothered by the sight of kids trying to have fun on dilapidated playground equipment. She got in touch with Huntsville school board member Laurie McCaulley, who contacted the city.

"Now we've got something that's really an asset for the whole community," said Battle, struggling to be heard over the hoots and shrieks of Academy for Academics & Arts second-graders enjoying the new playground.

McCaulley said the formerly run-down condition of the playground was "not acceptable" for students at AAA or kids from the Northwoods development. "Every one of our children in our system has the same value," she said.

Added Battle: "We've got a park now that reflects our community and reflects our value in children."